“I think this is bad news for us, Ruki. Look…”

As we were in the middle of eating our lunch in a family restaurant near the Akimitsu Hills, Juri put down her chopsticks and put her phone in front of my face.

It was just buzzing from vibrations a minute earlier from Setsuna-nee’s phone call that she didn’t pick up. Perhaps she couldn’t wait to hear from us, that troublesome Satsuki-lookalike had sent a message instead.

As I read through what could be seen on the preview from her phone’s notifications, it said… “Where are you two? I’m waiting for you…”

Although it’s incomplete, it wasn’t hard to infer the whole content of it.

“Yeah… If she’s joining us. It’s definitely bad news. What do you think about calling her back and telling her where we are before she speculates why you missed that one call.” I suggested but knowing that woman… it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that she’d be nagging at me even if Juri and I didn’t cross that line.

Anyway, at the same time as I said that, I also brought out my phone to check. Sure enough, I’ve seen her name in my flooded notification list. Although she didn’t call me, there’s a message from her which says, “Oi, Onoda-kun, Juri didn’t answer my call. Are you two still on the bus? Don’t ignore this or you’ll kiss my fist when I see you!”

Haa… Yep. That is typical of her.

One could say that she’s annoying to deal with but knowing her history, Setsuna-nee has her reasons why she adopted and cultivated her distrust of men. Even if she’s not the one directly affected, that incident hit her harder. Oh. No. It’s more so because it’s Satsuki who got put in that situation. She’d probably take it easier to move on if she was the one who got almost assaulted.

If I’m not wrong, she’s blaming herself for it. That’s why to prevent that from happening again, she decided to just shut out most men except her family and Sakuma.

Although she’s not really against my relationship with Satsuki, her distrust stuck out, which resulted in her trying to antagonize me at every turn. And even though we had a fruitful conversation earlier that lessened her distrust in me, that didn’t mean it already disappeared completely.

If, by chance, she started suspecting my close relationship with Juri… I could already imagine her designating me as her mortal enemy. Justification be damned but she’d definitely be on the right side if that happens.

Who will support a timer, right?

“Yes. You’re right. I should give her a call. Mind if I do it now?”

“Sure. The food won’t run away from the table. And if need be, I don’t mind feeding you while you talk to her.”

“This guy… You still have the gall to jest at this point.” Juri laughingly shook her head.

Then, as though a brilliant idea popped up in her mind, her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she picked up her chopsticks. She stood up from her seat and leaned over to grab a dumpling from my plate.

Understanding what she was about to do, I waited for it in slight anticipation. Or so I thought…

The next moment, Juri sat back down and started biting on that dumpling as an amused expression occupied her face. “Want a bite?”

Alright… This is not the Juri that I know. I’ve never taken her for a teaser…

Did she unlock her potential after what happened between us? No, right? Ugh… Maybe this is the result of her embracing her interest in me and breaking her own rule. She became unbridled.

“Don’t look at me as if I stole your food, Ruki. I just moved ahead to do what you’re planning to… Un. This is tasty. I should’ve ordered the same… Oh. Right. You can eat some meatballs from my plate too. Don’t be shy.” After finishing that dumpling, Juri’s amusement bloomed further as she pointed at her plate.

This girl… Act or not, there’s no doubt that she’s great at this.

Well then, I guess I should play along with her… Can’t have her think that I’m this easy to topple.

“No. I’m good. Rather, I’ll be content to see you happily munching on food. So, here. A second helping.”

Far from her expectation, I picked up another dumpling from my plate and leaned over to her, bringing the food next to her mouth.

Juri, who was just about to giggle at how well she played that out, couldn’t help but freeze as she alternately looked at me and my chopsticks. The thought of calling Setsuna-nee also seemingly disappeared from her mind.

As a hint of red started occupying her cheeks, Juri opened her mouth slightly, just enough for the dumpling to fit.

Naturally, I didn’t waste that chance and pushed it in, successfully feeding her.

As her lips closed around my chopstick, I slowly slid it out before sitting back down on my seat and watching her shamefully chew that piece of dumpling.

While she was at that, I raised my phone and… intentionally raised the volume as I snapped a photo of her.

It was a great shot. It fully captured her shame, surprise, and amusement at this unexpected turn. Furthermore, I somehow felt that the photo encapsulated everything that happened between us today or the progress that we made even if nothing had been resolved yet.

When Juri noticed what I did, she immediately tried to grab my phone. And with her mouth full, she could only issue some incoherent mumblings.

And it was at this point that the phone she had placed on the table started vibrating again, stopping her in her tracks.

Yep. It’s Setsuna-nee. And that's great timing. I’ll give her that.

While looking a little indignant, Juri forcefully gulped down what was in her mouth and pouted at me before sitting back down.

She straightened her expression, in preparation for answering that call.

“Setsu? Sorry, we are at a restaurant nearby… Huh? No. Ruki isn’t trying anything… Did you forget? We got delayed by the rain… Okay, alright, I’m sorry if I missed your call. You know me, if I’m starving, my mind is only focused on the food… If you’re already there, just come here. I’ll treat you as well.”

And there we go… She could really keep up and act the same as earlier. From the way their conversation went, Juri successfully reasoned out why she failed to pick up the call the first time.

Whether that was true or not, I had no idea. I mean, what she just tried to pull didn’t look like she was focused on her food, right? Or maybe, she’s not yet starving.

In any case, since I heard my name there, Setsuna-nee must have tried to accuse me of something… And she lied about that too…

That’s inappropriate…

Anyway, while the call was still in progress, I used that chance to type in my reply to Setsuna-nee even though it’s not needed anymore, “Kiss your fist? Nope. I’ll take Satsuki’s kiss any moment. By the way, since you’ll be reading this after your call, I did what you asked. I didn’t ignore this message. I’m absolved of any crime.”

Five minutes after Juri concluded that call, Setsuna-nee showed up and strolled inside the family restaurant. With her eyes scouring the place right away, it didn’t take long for her to find us in one corner. While she showed a pleasant smile toward Juri, the girl grumpily narrowed her eyes at me.

They’re really sisters. I couldn’t help but see Satsuki’s image from that. And that’s within my expectation after I cheekily replied like that.

Anyway, in retrospect, we dodged a bullet.

If Juri and I showed up at that third location while still linked intimately, we’d be caught red-handed.